The Class D level Sophomore League began play on April 28, 1958, with the Artesia Giants (San Francisco Giants affiliate), Carlsbad Potashers (Chicago Cubs), Hobbs Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals), Midland Braves (Milwaukee Braves), Plainview Athletics (Kansas City Athletics and San Angelo Pirates (Pittsburgh Pirates) as charter members.
[1][2] The Midland Braves won the Sophomore League championship in 1958, managed in part by Baseball Hall of Fame member Travis Jackson.
[6] Baseball Hall of Fame member Willie Stargell played in the Sophomore League in 1959 for the San Angelo Pirates/Roswell Pirates, his first professional season.
[5] As reported in The Sporting News, Carlsbad Potashers player Gil Carter hit a home run in 1959 that was noteworthy due to its distance.
"On a hot August night in 1959, former heavyweight boxer Gil Carter smashed a pitch through Carlsbad's high-elevated air and out of Montgomery Field.
The ball carried over the left field wall, soared past two city streets and landed in a peach tree.
However, aerial photographs measurements put the distance at 700–733 feet, which would make it the longest home run ever hit in professional baseball.